125th Anniversary Scholarship for Black British Researchers - Construction of Narratives of Black Male Victimisation in Birmingham Magistrates' and Crown Courts

Black people, particularly Black men, have long been erroneously stereotyped as having a propensity for criminality (Hall et al 1978; Gilroy 1982). Black men are habitually viewed as a 'problem' (Gilroy 1993) and as 'perpetual suspects' (Hall et al. 1978), but never seen in the first instance as crime victims (Long 2018, 2021). This was the case with Stephen Lawrence (Macpherson, 1999), and so too with Dea-John Reid, a 14-year old Black British teenager murdered in Birmingham in 2021 by a White mob after being racially abused and chased through the streets. This proposal stems from applicants' ongoing work with the Justice for Dea-John Reid Campaign (J4DJR) for fairer treatment of Black male crime victims in England and Wales courts.

At the 2022 trial of Dea-John's killers, his family hoped justice would be served. Instead it was insinuated Dea-John had contributed to or even caused his own death. The nearly all-White jury convicted the principal perpetrator and exonerated the others, which the family attributed to Dea-John being stereotyped as a menacing Black boy, and the White male perpetrators having excuses for their actions.

Indeed, courtrooms are well known sites of spoken, written and non-verbal narratives about victims and perpetrators. Researchers shows how presentation of evidence, including witnesses, documents and physical evidence, as well as opening and closing statements, create particular narratives in courtrooms, often laden with stereotypes, and implicit and explicit biases (Rock 1991; Rossner, 2019).

For Black men and boys, be they victims or perpetrators, research suggests they are often negatively stereotyped. Their behaviour (e.g. contributing to their victimisation (Long, 2019)), their associations (e.g. so-called gang membership (Williams and Clarke, 2016)), and even the music they listen to (e.g., rap or grime music (Art Not Evidence, 2023)) are used to portray Black men unfavourably in criminal cases - even where they are crime victims. But the evidence of this narrative creation process in courts, and its impacts, is lacking in England and Wales. The proposed project seeks to understand how narratives around Black male victims are created in Birmingham's Magistrates' and Crown Courts, and how this impacts them and their families.

Drawing on applicants' ongoing research, this project aims to develop new knowledge and understanding of how Black men and boys are depicted in Birmingham's Magistrates' and Crown Courts, and document impacts of these experiences on them and their families in Birmingham's Black communities. This research produces two new qualitative data sets comprised of: (1) collecting non-participant observation courtroom data about narratives about Black male victimisation in Birmingham Magistrates' and Crown Courts; and (2) interviews with Black male victims and/or their surviving families whose cases were prosecuted in Birmingham Magistrates' and Crown Court to learn their lived experiences of narratives about their victimisation used about in criminal prosecutions.

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Funding Details

Additional Funding Information

The University of Birmingham is proud to celebrate its remarkable 125-year journey and announce the launch of a groundbreaking scholarship initiative designed to empower and support Black British researchers in their pursuit of doctoral education.

These newly established 3.5-year scholarships aim to address underrepresentation and create opportunities for talented individuals from diverse backgrounds to excel in academia. You can find out more here: https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/study/postgraduate/research/funding/black-british-researchers-scholarship

Closing Date: 30/04/2025

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